Clearing cranial cobwebs
My uncle lived to 96 – almost. His body just shut-down
but right until the end, his mind was crystal clear and razor sharp. In the
last decade of his life, he’d often say (of people not older than 75) “take
these senile old folks away! I want to talk to young people.” And young people always
came away from such a chat with something they could keep. But he was an
exception that proves the rule.
The slowing-down of the brain (in the absence of an actual degenerative disease) after you’re 40 is not a disorder: it’s physiological. Considering you will have learned about 75 percent of everything you will ever learn by the time you are eight, after 30-odd years of making neurological connections, if you have the odd “senior moment” at 45, you needn’t panic and suspect early onset Alzheimer’s. Accepted opinion today is that your brain will have been “slowing down” since your 30s but experience might have compensated for it until now.
The slowing-down of the brain (in the absence of an actual degenerative disease) after you’re 40 is not a disorder: it’s physiological. Considering you will have learned about 75 percent of everything you will ever learn by the time you are eight, after 30-odd years of making neurological connections, if you have the odd “senior moment” at 45, you needn’t panic and suspect early onset Alzheimer’s. Accepted opinion today is that your brain will have been “slowing down” since your 30s but experience might have compensated for it until now.
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| Nieuwjaarsduik, Wijk-aan-Zee, 01 Jan 2012 |
Then, some of us are faced with a rare opportunity. There is little doubt that
for anyone (and quite measurably for those over 60), learning a new skill – or even
building on a foundation laid in your youth – such as playing a musical instrument
or studying a new language, have a regenerative effect on the brain. Degeneration
slows down and the incidence of new connections in the brain actually
increases. That’s not surprising when compared to similar physical exercises.
You might never be Arnold Schwarzenegger, but responsibly exercising flabby old
muscles and lazy old bones will undoubtedly make any basically healthy mid-life
couch potato feel a lot better.
It’s no difference for the Mk.1 human brain. Ask a 49er who’s spent the last four weeks or so brainstorming with 25-year-olds. The difference is quite phenomenal. Then, when you shine a light and clear the cobwebs in a cerebral corridor you haven’t wandered for several years, when you get home, you notice it’s still there. A passage of interest last explored decades ago is now visible, with the added benefit of experience. Then, in the middle of dinner, a synapse: “Oh, that’s what she meant when she said that back in ’82… bitch!”
Life doesn’t allow us to completely reformat our hard drive or retrofit a SSD, but a quick defrag and a search of old backups on what you’ve got makes it spin like it hasn’t done in years. Just like working-out with someone younger, it’s tiring at first, but you’d be surprised how quickly you start to catch up. There’s just nothing you can drink, smoke or snort that gives you such a high! Thanks guys! – AMB
It’s no difference for the Mk.1 human brain. Ask a 49er who’s spent the last four weeks or so brainstorming with 25-year-olds. The difference is quite phenomenal. Then, when you shine a light and clear the cobwebs in a cerebral corridor you haven’t wandered for several years, when you get home, you notice it’s still there. A passage of interest last explored decades ago is now visible, with the added benefit of experience. Then, in the middle of dinner, a synapse: “Oh, that’s what she meant when she said that back in ’82… bitch!”
Life doesn’t allow us to completely reformat our hard drive or retrofit a SSD, but a quick defrag and a search of old backups on what you’ve got makes it spin like it hasn’t done in years. Just like working-out with someone younger, it’s tiring at first, but you’d be surprised how quickly you start to catch up. There’s just nothing you can drink, smoke or snort that gives you such a high! Thanks guys! – AMB
